For students : School of Rural Health

University of Melbourne Shepparton Medical Centre

Initial work has commenced on the site of the School of Rural Health to construct the School’s University teaching clinic. This initiative is jointly funded by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aging, Commonwealth Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, Department of Human Services Victoria, City of Greater Shepparton, and the University of Melbourne.

A “turning of the sod” ceremony was held on June 2008 and the planned construction completion date is May, 2009. The clinic will be a GP centred multi-specialty and vertically integrated learning clinic. It will have 10 “teaching suites” each consisting of two consulting rooms. Planning and development has progressed with valued co-operation and advice from a number of sources including Bogong Regional Training Network and GVGPs.

Who will work in the Clinic?
Our plans are that there will be up to 5 GPs, with physicians, paediatricians, and a psychiatrist working on a sessional basis. In addition there will be Practice Nurses, allied health services and aboriginal health workers. In conjunction with Bogong GP Training, we hope to have pre-vocational GP placements and GP registrars. The clinic will also be well placed to offer training for international medical graduates.

Medical students
This clinic is a critically important part of the development of the Rural Clinical School as the number of students steadily increases. Up to 10 medical students will be located in the clinic at any one time, enhancing the already good access to in-patients at GVH, substantially increasing the teaching and patient contacts for our students. GPs will be aware that only a very small percentage of patients are in the hospital system at any one time, in contrast to the vast numbers and range of presentations in General Practice. Over 80% of the population see a GP at least once each year.

Students will see their own patients in the Clinic under supervision of a senior clinician, whether that be a GP or a specialist in another field. This model enables little or no decrease in patient through-put. In fact with a senior student sometimes patient throughput is increased, still with high quality care and a high quality learning experience for the student.

Recruitment of Doctors
In the current workforce situation this is indeed a challenge. We have had some expressions on interest. Being realistic, the number of GPs will probably start low and develop over a period of time. We feel that this model will appeal to GPs with an interest in teaching, and so we hope this will bring new GPs to Shepparton. Recruitment of specialists to the clinic is less of an issue as it will provide a further resource to the cramped Specialist Consulting Suite at GVH.

Patients
All GPs will be aware of the major GP shortage in Shepparton and the Goulburn Valley. Hospital statistics show that there are about 17000 GP type presentations to the Emergency Department at GVH each year. In co-operation with GVH, the clinic will be targeting these patients, giving them the opportunity to be seen with significantly less waiting time and, more appropriately, by a GP.

Billing
Billing processes will be similar to other General Practices – a mix of private billing and direct billing. As it is planned that patients will be largely sourced from the GVH Emergency Department, the percentage of card holders and therefore direct billing may be higher than in private practice. The clinic is not seen as being in competition with private Practice.

In summary, this Clinic will be a major asset to Shepparton and should significantly enhance general practice as a whole. We plan to hold an information session for local GPs in the near future, and will keep GPs informed of the project as it develops.

Assoc. Professor Graeme Jones
Director of Rural General Practice Education
School of Rural Health, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences
Shepparton

Development Photo's

7th October 2009